The Arctic Coast and Hudson Bay 1610 to 1632

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Abstract

In the period from 1610 to 1632, English navigators explored Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay. This map shows the routes of seven explorers: Hudson (1610 to 1611), Button (1612 to 1613), Bylot (1615 to 1616), Baffin (1615 to 1616), Munk (1619 to 1620), Fox (1631), and James (1631 to 1632). The map also shows the extent of territory known to Europeans in the period 1497 to 1650; and the navigation of all exploration routes during the period of the penetration of the Eastern Great Lakes and Hudson Bay from 1600 to 1650. The historical names found on the map are derived from contemporaneous maps and written documents of the period.

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When Henry Hudson docked in England on his return voyage from discovering the Hudson River (1609) he was forbidden to undertake further employment with the Dutch. The Dutch at this time had been actively pursuing exploration of a northeast passage to Russia. In 1609, Hudson had been hired by the Dutch East Indian Company to find a north-eastern passage to the Russian Arctic.

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Hudson - The Last Voyage 1611 by John Collier

Soon after, he was engaged by the Northeast Company which had the same financial backers as the East India Company. Hudson's aim was to explore Waymouth's "inlet" with its strong easterly currents which he thought could be the same "very great gulfe" with its "furious overfale" sighted by Davis in 1587. Hudson sailed through the strait that bears his name and wintered at the southern end of James Bay. On his return trip (1611) the crew mutinied and set Hudson adrift in a shallop. A shallop is a small light open boat with sail or oars. Hudson's ship, the Discovery, went on to become a veteran in Arctic exploration being used by Waymouth (1602), Hudson (1610), Button (1612) and Baffin (1615 to 1616).

Following the return of Hudson's mutineers, Thomas Button was dispatched in 1612 by the Northwest Company of England to continue Hudson's discoveries. Button's accomplishment was the charting of the northwest shore of Hudson Bay. In 1615 Baffin and Bylot sailed northwest into the Foxe Channel, correctly concluding that there was no passage in that direction. Undaunted by these failures to find a passage, the Northwest Company again sponsored Baffin and Bylot in 1616.

The string of English expeditions was only broken in 1619 to 1620 by Jens Munk under orders from the Danish king to discover the northwest passage. The last two English expeditions in search of the passage were under Fox (1631) and James (1631 to 1632). The unsuccessful results of all these explorations, laid the notion of a northwest passage to rest for nearly one hundred years.

Meanwhile, in the Great Lakes area, Champlain in 1610, began a long tradition of exploration that led finally in 1615 to the discovery of Lake Huron. This discovery was important because it brought traders as well as missionaries into the lands beyond the St. Lawrence for the first time.

Voyages of Exploration

An audio description for each voyage of exploration shown on this map can be accessed from the list below or through the map using Get Statistics.

• 1610 to 1611 Henry Hudson (English; for England)
• 1612 to 1613 Thomas Button (of Glamorganshire, Wales; for England)
• 1615 to 1616 Robert Bylot and William Baffin (English; for England)
• 1619 to 1620 Jens Eriksen Munk (of Barbo, Norway, for Denmark)
• 1631 Luke Fox (of Hull, England; for England)
• 1631 to 1632 Thomas James (of Bristol, England; for England)

The descriptions of the voyages of exploration are based on research by C.E. Heidenreich, Department of Geography, York University. An audio version of each description can be played as the user follows the exploration route made by the explorer on the map.

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